Herne Bay manager James Collins warns players 9-1 home win against relegated Lancing must not be a one-off

Boss James Collins has warned Herne Bay’s squad their 9-1 weekend win will quickly be forgotten if they don’t back it up.

Bay effectively ended any dwindling fears of Isthmian South East relegation as they eased past second-bottom Lancing, who have already had their fate sealed, at Winch’s Field last Saturday.

Bay had looked on course for the point they needed to officially maintain their Step 4 status at Beckenham until the hosts struck twice in the last 10 minutes to win 2-0 on Tuesday.

Speaking ahead of that defeat, Collins said: “When I came in, the club had a good buffer in terms of being above the drop zone. Then, that dropped to five points.

“For us to go down, I think Phoenix need to win all their games now and you’re looking at something like a 30-goal swing.

"If we were to go down, it would be one of the most catastrophic relegations ever!

“The players know what’s expected from me and what’s needed next season.

“I don’t want players at the club that feel like they’re doing us a favour. They need to prove themselves every week by getting results and I need to prove myself every week.

“The club is going places. Winning 9-1 and then losing two in a row, that’s not going to be good enough.

“We need to make sure we back up results consistently if we are going to achieve what we want to, and if people want to be here for the long term.”

Emmanuel Oluwasemo led the way on a perfect Bay debut with a hat-trick against Lancing.

“Manny has been amazing for me,” said Collins. “He was fantastic for me at Faversham and at Bowers.

"As I said last week, when the opportunity came to sign him, it was a no-brainer.

“Maybe, he doesn’t score as many goals as he should. But he has been playing in Kosovo and perhaps the level that he